A Day on the John Wayne Pioneer Trail

I took a day trip to Iron Horse State Park for a ride on the John Wayne Pioneer Trail with my friend Terry. The western end of the JWPT starts at Rattlesnake Lake near Cedar Falls, WA, then heads east over Snoqualmie Pass into the arid plateau of eastern Washington. This was my first time on the trail, so it made sense to start at the beginning.

The trail is on the old Milwaukee Rail line, so the grade is very consistent and reasonable. The trail is basically a one-lane gravel road with a well-packed surface. My 29er was overkill for this terrain, but the wide tires help even out the bumps.

Terry simply put a set of cyclocross tires on his city bike. We both packed along lunches, lights and rain gear and planned to ride 21 miles to the pass summit at Hyak, which included the 2.3 mile Snoqualmie Tunnel.

The going was easy and we chatted much of the way. We played tourist, stopping at the trestle bridges and viewpoints.

There are several trail-side campsites along the way to Hyak. A father and son told us to check out the Carter Creek site that they had just used. These are all State Park sites, so the fee is just $5/night, and there is a clean pit-toilet bathroom near each location. Family campers should check it out!

The real treat on this ride is the Snoqualimie Tunnel. It has a serious Lord of the Rings feel when you stand outside the entrance.

Lights are a must and jackets are recommended. It's cold and dark and a little drippy in there. 

The upper entrance to the tunnel at Hyak is near a big parking lot and is easy to find if you wanted to drive up and just ride or hike the tunnel portion.

It was only 11:30 when we reached the summit, so rather than turn around and head back to Rattlesnake, Terry and I decided to keep riding the JWPT around the southern edge of Kachellus Lake. 

The interstate and its ongoing widening project are on the opposit side of the lake. The trail is quite quiet even though you can see the cars in the distance. It was warming up and we were feeling good (and when were we going to get a chance to ride this trail again?!) so we kept on towards Lake Easton.

Shortly after crossing this bridge over the Yakima River, we left the trail and headed for Lake Easton State Park. The JWPT continues east around the opposite and more remote side of the lake, but we were already 40 miles into our day and low on water. We would have to see more of the trail another time.

I've been to the Lake Easton campground several times before while riding the Courage Classic. It's another great spot to bring the whole family.

We turned around and headed for home. This is where the photographic part of the story ends, because just a mile later the wind picked up and the rain started. I tucked my camera in my dry saddlebag and then never had a chance to get it back out. The rain turned into a deluge as thunder roared on the rock faces above us and lightening flashed nearby. It's 18 miles from Easton to Hyak and somewhere in the middle it started to hail. I had been saving my rain jacket for the tunnel, but at this point I finally stopped, already soaked, to put it on. My oversized hood fits over my helmet, which keeps the cold water from running down my back. The pea-sized hail bouncing off the hood sounded like I was riding with a popcorn popper in my ears.

This Biblical thunder shower continued for most of the ride to Hyak, with the rain letting up just as we reached the tunnel. Inside, a cold wind chilled my ungloved hands. Its mid-August, why would I need gloves?

Back outside in the daylight and on the descent, we were riding faster. However, the heavy rain had washed away our smooth trail and turned it into a puddled and rutted gravel mine-field. The cold and increased vibration caused my hands and soaked feet to go completely numb. The 18 miles down to Rattlesnake were fast, but not fast enough. My fingers were bone white when we finally reached the trailhead and I could barely squeeze my brakes. The first half of our ride was blissful; this second half was torture. 

That being said, the pain wasn't anything that heated seats and a cup of coffee couldn't mend! Our initial 40 mile joyride had become an 80 mile adventure. Even if I had known about the weather we would encounter, I still would have done it. Day trips like this don't happen very often for me and, especially when a good friend comes along for the ride, you have to just keep smiling and go for it.

Final Preparations and More Donation Matching

I'm one week away from riding 173 miles of mountains on my single-speed city bike, all in the name of Child Abuse Intervention.  The Courage Classic is a ride I've done three times before, but always with derailleurs. I made the single-speed commitment as a challenge to myself, but also as a challenge to you, the donor.

I've revised my fundraising goal to $2000 and will be matching any donation made between now and August 8 by 10%.  Even if you can only contribute $10, I'll donate $1 more and all $11 will go directly to supporting services that help to Stop the Cycle of Child Abuse in Pierce County.  You can donate here.

Meanwhile, I've been training with the Harmon Bike Club, leading 20-25 mile rides around Tacoma on my single-speed.  In an effort to find a more comfortable riding position, I've tried several different handlebars over the last few weeks, including a flat bar with bar-ends and even a bmx bar.  They all had their pros and cons. Ultimately, I'm back where I started. So the bike looks like this:

The rear rack is gone, but it doesn't feel any lighter!  It's geared 36x18 (54 gear inches) on the freewheel side of the flipflop hub, but my "bail-out" gear on the fixed side is 36x22 (44 gear inches).  If it simply gets too steep, I can flip the wheel around and ride the low-geared fixed side to the top. I've tested it out on Carr Hill, one of the steepest climbs in town, and it worked well.

If you've read along this far and haven't donated, head over here and contribute what you can.  It will only take a minute.

Many thanks! Full ride report to follow!

Everyone's Riding Bikes

Yesterday I received a call from one of my wife's college friends. She lives in Tacoma and was exploring the interwebs for a how-to on biking with little ones. Totcycle was very helpful, she said, but they didn't have a Madsen kg271 available in her neighborhood for test-rides. Tacoma Bike Ranch did! She walked down to the ranch and took the Bucket Bike for a spin with her 2 year old. Small world, eh?

Then my cousin calls at the eleventh hour, saying he wants to join me for the Harmon Bike Club's Tuesday Night Ride*. Except I have his bike hanging in my garage and he will have to meet me at the Hub, or risk being late. No worries, says I.


Four blokes showed up for the ride, and the five of us went on a barn-stormer down through 5-Mile Drive in Point Defiance Park, then over towards the Narrows Bridge. The rabbit of the bunch opted for the 6th Ave hill instead of a lap over the bridge. Pints of porter and sweet potato fries helped speed us towards recovery back at the Hub.


Most of the folks on the Tuesday Night Ride are training for the Courage Classic, which I'm riding this summer for the second time. It's a fund-raising ride for the Child Abuse Intervention department at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital in Tacoma. Every dollar goes directly to helping these kids, and it only take a minute to donate online.

Now get out there and ride your bike!


*Tuesday Night Rides start at 5:30pm from The Hub at 203 Tacoma Ave S in Tacoma. 20-25 miles around town and anyone is welcome to tag along.

Grocery Run

Sarah and I planned a short rec ride for this morning, 10-15 mies on the Scott Pierson Trail, followed by a grocery run on the way home. We were soaked with some of the coldest rain imaginable by the time we reached the trail entrance behind TOP Foods, so we decided that this was far enough in these conditions. We purchased about 60 pounds of groceries and a 40 pound bag of dog food.

When we came out of the grocery store, the sun was coming out. The rain had stopped and our load made it home completely dry.


I noticed quite a few car drivers doing double takes at the loaded Xtracycle on our way home. While waiting in a turn lane, one car driver hollered, "Very cool, man!"

So far, I've avoided doing big grocery runs with the kids by bicycle, but that's coming. Now that I know Tula can fit in the PeaPod, the logistics of getting the two girls to the grocery store on the Xtracycle are falling in to place. A sunny day would also be helpful!

Little Passengers

On Saturday I tuned up the brakes on my Xtracycle and Cross Check, now that the foul winter weather has taken its toll on the brake pads. I also added a new rear fender to the Xtracycle made from a coroplast campaign sign I found in a ditch post-election. I needed to test ride the setup, and decided to give Tula her first ride in the PeaPod seat.

It was biting cold in the damp 45°F air, but she didn't seem to mind at all. In fact...

I'm pretty sure she loves it! Now I need to finish my Snapdeck hack so that my 3 year-old can ride behind the PeaPod. More to follow!

Recreational Riding...

I organized a Sunday morning group ride for the Harmon Bike Club. Unfortunately, I woke up to find two inches of snow that were no where near the weather forecast for today (I was expecting a 92% chance of rain.) Well I'll be damned if I'm going to let down the one other person that might be willing to plow the slush with me this morning. I took the Xtracycle, wore my yellow rain coat (very rare occasion), lots of wool, and ski gloves. A small thermos of coffee was my back-up plan.

After two cups of coffee at The Hub, I rolled out at 10:20 by myself. Here's where I went:

View Larger Map

And here's what it looked like:


I stuck to the arterials where the cars had already plowed most of the slush off of the roads. I was already soaked when I reached Point Defiance Park, so I opted not to ride the portion of 5-Mile Drive that is closed to vehicles each weekend morning (more slush and run-off.) The 14 mile route felt more like a 20-miler, which was what I was shooting for today.

The sun peaked out on my way home. I got lots of smiles from drivers and saw one other set of bike tracks in the park. Those are very uplifting signs on a ride like this. Signs that kept me grinning the whole way.

A Weekend of Bicycling

I've been out on two wheels quite a bit, and thought I'd wrap it all up neatly for your consumption.

Friday:
Sarah had the girls, so Kyler and I took the Xtracycle to Puget Park. We stopped at the library and a bakery on the way home. It was a little chilly once we reached cruising speed, but the little guy loves going for bike rides. Xtracycle's Kick Back (double-leg kickstand) was worth the wait and the money. I have no worries about loading, unloading, or "idling" kids in the bobike seat while it is engaged.

Saturday:
I loaded up the basket on the Cross Check and left early for a chilly ride through Point Defiance Park. I dressed in wool and took a thermos of tea, a pbh sandwich, camera, extra layers. The basket was full, but not very heavy, and managed the load well. I stopped for a snack and a warm drink at the Narrows lookout point, only to find that the memory card was not in my camera. Doh! After the 15 mile ride, I decided that my Xtracycle is better suited longer tours like the Courage Classic ride that I'm planning to do again this summer. Although, I may swap my sprung VO saddle to the Cross Check and give it one more try.

From Cross Check

Sunday:
Cross Check milk run. I needed one gallon of whole milk and one quart of soy milk. However...

1 gal milk = $2.99 ea
2 gal milk = $1.99 ea (must buy two)

Who comes up with these rediculous sales? Not being one to turn down a deal, and knowing we'd drink it, I picked up two. The soy milk was also cheaper buy the half gallon. Plenty of deals, but I only had my basket and front rack. (I think the rack limit is 15 pounds.) With my 20 pounds of liquid cargo and the U-lock tucked under the cargo net, I slowly meandered the 1.5 miles home. The handling was poor, which is what I expected, but manageable. I now know the upper limit of this setup.

Monday:
Sarah and I ran errands in the van today. Too far to practically bike, but that's why we have the van. We stacked the destinations and didn't do any backtracking, at least.

Tuesday:
We ran out of powdered sugar and baking cocoa, so Kyler and I again took to two wheels. We stopped to admire the fire trucks in Proctor, as there was some sort of multi-station meeting going on (must have been six engines in front of the station.) We also slowed to check out the large back-hoes and grading equipment tearing up Union Ave. Kyler also spotted a garbage truck during this stop. He's got an eye for garbage trucks.

From Xtracycle

Hauling Stuff on Bikes

This weekend I made some changes to my Cross Check and Sarah's Cannondale to address the fact that she is the sole bike commuter in this household now that I work from home. The front basket just wasn't cutting it for her, so I swapped my rear rack to her bike (with much filing of struts and adjustment of fenders to make it fit.) She also agreed to try my Brooks B68 after our Valentine's Day outing.

From Sarah's Bike

She said it handled better with the load in the back and that the new saddle was a huge improvement. Mission accomplished.

I finally installed a kickstand on the Cross Check, which required a special mounting plate. The main purpose of this is so that I can prop the bike while I'm trailering, which has been an issue. The Wald basket holder rests nicely on the Nashbar Front Rack, so I secured it with zipties and plan to use it for quick errands. The basket removes quickly and without hassle from the holder, unlike on Sarah's bike where all of the housing from the brifters made it cumbersome to take the basket off. Note that If I didn't have the rack, the basket holder would have rubbed on the headtube, which was causing paint abrasion on the Cannondale despite my best preventative efforts.

From Cross Check

After a few hours riding their trikes in the garage today, the big kids asked to go for a ride in the trailer. It was misting heavily and a bit chilly, but I just took them out for a few miles around the neighborhood. Despite the damp cold, I still had to stop and take off my coat (thank you, Kickstand). We went just far enough for the gentle bounce of the Burley on our pitted Tacoma side streets to lull them into a brief slumber.

From Cross Check

I think this new setup is going to work great. My only beef is that the weight of the basket pulls the steering hard left when parked on the kickstand, but I can eleviate most of this problem by simply taking off the basket. I'm very interested to find out if I can install a steering return spring on this rig a la Dutch city bikes. I also think the basket needs a custom paint job...perhaps something a little obnoxious to stand out whilst I'm wandering the isles of the grocery store? Lime green maybe?

How's it lookin' back there?

I usually do my big grocery shopping trips at night after the kids are in bed. There's less traffic, both on the road and in the isles, so I can usually get more done in less time.

From Xtracycle

After returning home from a recent trip, I began to wonder about my night-time visibility to cars approaching from the rear, since I can at least see what's coming at me from up ahead. I always wear a reflective vest at night as well as a blinkie on my Bell Metro helmet. The Xtracycle also has a bottle-dynamo driven light set, but it's the many added reflectors that seem to be doing the most good.

Day...(notice LED standlight)

From Xtracycle

Night...

From Xtracycle

I think adding some reflective tape to the corners of the H-racks would seal the deal...

Sweetness...

Another reason to check out the Xtracycle Gallery...Thanks, John!

The KMX

A few more shots of my Surly Karate Monkey Xtracycle in action. The setup was mostly taken from a Clever Cycles suggestion with additional input from Aaron's Bicycle Repair.

Commute Madness

I biked to my old office this morning. It was very foggy, 30°F. Chris rolled in at 0630 and we hit the road. It was like old times, dodging potholes, talking about what was new. While at a stop light, a minivan driver commended us for being diligent to our biking and thanked us for being very visible with our blinkies and reflective bits.

We cruised to downtown to the 11th Street Bridge, which is still only open to bikes and pedestrians. About the time I realized that the ground looked rather sparkly, my rear wheel decided to try and catch up with the front wheel by passing me on the left. I put a foot down and hollered "Woooaaaahhh!" as I went into a 3-point slide. I slowed to nearly a stop before gravity finally took over. I looked up just in time to see Chris do the same thing, only with more speed and less grace. He was a little scratched up and a few pedestrians had a bit of a chuckle at our expense, but we were ok. We decided to walk a piece, only to be passed by an older fellow with a white beard on a city bike. He muttered something, probably about us being amateurs. Hardly.

The frost was thick on everything organic or metal between Portland Ave and Port of Tacoma Road. So thick, that I thought the concrete sidewalk of the Lincoln Ave bridge had been re-poured, it was so smooth and bright. Chris commented about his bike commute during the flooding we had in the area. Much of the sand and debris from the high water along Pacific Highway is still there, including a few large river rocks. Good times.



After saying hello to some friends heading in to the office, I headed back home before the frost on my sweater thawed too much. Rolling through the back-roads of Fife, a duck flushed from the marsh grass as I rode by. A hawk screeched as it glided over the road ahead. A frog chirped. Water rushed from a culvert into the stream. It was comfortably inspiring outing on a momentous day in America.

Buying Local

The winter rains found more than one way into our home this week. The basement leaked (as usual), but so did the dining room window. I needed caulk.

Usually, I'd load up the minivan and drive the 4 or 5 miles to The Big Orange Home Store, get lost trying to find the one thing I need, and waste much time and resources to make a $5 purchase. Now that I'm home during reasonable business hours, I decided to check out my local lumber yard, which sells an assortment of building and home repair products.

I loaded Tula in the Burley D'Lite trailer, hitched it to the Cross Check, and we set out for Gray Lumber Company. It's only 1.3 miles away, but even on the short trip I noticed that my trailer combo was more nimble with easier starts and stops.

From Cross Check

Tula travels by bike in her carrier car seat, because she is too small to keep herself upright in the trailer seat. I leave the handle up to act as a frontal roll cage and buckle it in with the wide lateral seat belt in the trailer. She's very snug and seems to like facing forward, instead of rearward in the van.

There is a bike rack in front near the door, but my rig found a spot against the front wall. U-lock through the front wheel and frame, helmet through the rear wheel and frame. I wouldn't be long.

From Cross Check

Inside, I was impressed to find nearly every bit and bob that I have ever needed to fix my home. Furnace filters, toilet kits, hardware, pvc pipe, tools, and a wide assortment of caulk and glue. Three different employees asked to help me during the 5 minutes that I was inside. Upon telling one fellow that I was there on my first visit to explore my local lumber yard, he said that the business has been located in the neighborhood for 105 years and that "this is Tacoma." I will bring my business here again.

Evolution of a Bicycle

I really got into bikes in 2005. After training for the STP on a Marin Rocky Ridge , and ultimately borrowing a svelte steel road bike for the ride itself, I decided that I wanted a good road bike of my own to use as a commuter.

My commute was a bit of a bear, about 14 miles of RR tracks and gritty shoulders. I settled on a 2005 Surly Cross Check Complete Bike.

From Cross Check

The bike served me well. I picked it because it would give me some flexibility with setups and would allow me to tinker. Clearance for wide tires with fenders, semi-horizontal dropouts for single-speed/fixed, lots of braze ons, and a reasonable price tag.

After nearly a year with the stock setup, a switched to a Brooks B17 saddle, On One Midge bars, and added a set of Reelights.

From Cross Check

This was a more comfortable, yet aggressive setup that worked well for time-trialing the route home, as well as some fire road hill climbs in the northern Cascades. After tiring of the super-wide Midge, I switched to a Nitto Randoneur bar and added a Nashbar front rack, so I could have a good place to strap the battery of my Blackburn X3 light. I also added a 26T granny ring and a Salsa Chain Guard instead of the 48t big ring. I tend to spin and like to climb hills, so why not only have those gears?

From Cross Check

I figured that this would be the last time that I would mess with the setup for a while. However, when I left my job in October to be a stay-at-home dad, my time in the saddle went from 2 hours/day to 30 minutes/week. I had just replaced the rear rim (because rims wear out in the Pacific Northwest if you ride year-round) and wanted to use it. The few group rides I've done in the last few months have left me tired and sore, yearning for the upright position of my Xtracycle, despite it's 20 pound weight penalty over the Cross Check.

A Velo Orange Tourist bar and some Avid FR-5 levers were an inexpensive and effective fix. The shifters were moved to the downtube to clean up the cabling mess on top of the front rack, and are still indexed. The bike is lighter, feels faster, provides better visibility of me and for me, and has reinvigorated my desire to ride this bike.

From Cross Check

The only change I can foresee is a switch to Paul Thumbies instead of the downtube shifters, but time will tell. I can't wait for the next group ride...