On 19-MAR-2024, Liam, Pam, Mike, Ralph, and Garry participated in COGS first Tuesday Brisk ride of the season.  I am happy to share this update with the club.  As the weather gets better, we will see more of these rides.  

The route took us north (with a quick stop at UW to see the Cherry Blossoms) through Seattle into the hills of Brier before descending down to the Burke-Gilman for a short stretch.  We then climbed Norway Hill and made our way through the quiet neighborhoods in Juanita before dropping back down to Lake Washington and back via the SR-520 bridge.  It was challenging!

Many thanks to Ralph for planning and posting the ride!

     

We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day to ride along the water south of Seattle.  After taking light rail to the southern end of the line at Angle Lake, we plunged down the paved Des Moines Creek Trail through the woods to the waterfront at Des Moines beach, a quick drop of almost 400’ of elevation.  Of course, who coasts down must then ride back up, and that was the theme of the first half of our ride.  After 20 miles of climbing and descending, and a break at Lincoln Park in W. Seattle, we enjoyed another 20 miles of coastal views from the pleasantly flat route around Alki, the Seattle waterfront, and the Ship Canal trail.  Our only disappointments were having one rider abandon the ride early because of bike issues, and finding that Bakery Nouveau in Burien is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Saturday’s Bainbridge (Pre-Chilly) ride generated one of the largest turnouts we have had in a long time, nineteen in total.  Although the ride was posted as moderate, capabilities of the signups ranged from steady to brisk.  That, combined with the hills of Bainbridge, had the potential for any efforts on my part as ride leader for keeping the group together to become a fool’s errand.  Fortunately, Mark Davidson, leader of COGS social and steady rides, accepted an impromptu invitation to be the focal point for the steadies.  However, before Mark could get the route called up on his Garmin, Louise Kornreich, put her cape on, jumped into action and proclaimed, “We don’t need no stinking Garmin”.  Using local knowledge Louise guided Mark and the steady group to the lunch spot ahead of the moderates.  Then later guided the steadies back to the ferry, waving from its stern to the oh-so-pleased-with-themselves-for-having-done-Toe-Jam-Hill moderates left standing on the pier in the rain. But the left-behind moderates were treated to something special on their return, a pod of orcas passing through Elliot Bay. Yes, the ferries, as big as they are, do list when everyone runs to one side.   As for the brisk riders, within the first few miles they had blown off the front, never to be seen again.  Perhaps they will send us a post card.

We had a great turnout tonight for a great ride through dark woods and bright Christmas lights.

Thanks to Barbara for this photo and to everyone who came along for the ride.

Mike, Jeff, Denny, Noriko, Ralph, Gus (with his new custom Soma bikepacking machine), Wayne, John, Riva, Pam (with her beautiful new Rodriguez), Liam, Barbara, Merilyn and Arnie met at the Montlake Triangle on a cool grey drizzly morning and headed east on the 520 trail to Marymoor Park.  We headed south on the recently completed East Lake Samammish Trail and somewhere on the way to Issaquah Coffee Co., we picked up Ben.  After a stop for coffee and snacks, we climbed Newport Way back to the I-90 Trail, rode across "bumpy swamp" and under I-90 on 108th NE.  We worked our way through the traffic in Old Bellevue on Main then through Medina and back to the UW via the 520 trail.  Roughly 44 miles covered and 2,000 feet of elevation gain.  It was great to see you all!

Richard Petters and I met at the Seattle fast ferry dock where we boarded for Kingston - bikes go inside on this run. We saw Orcas! 

When we arrived at Kingston, there were no cars on the road so we set off for our ride to our camp for the night, Night Owl Landing. I had a feeling when we turned left onto Epic Dr that this was going to be good, but I had no idea what exactly we were going to find... were the photos of Silver Creek Lounge, complete with flush toilets and kitchen for real? Was there really a bike shop? When we rolled up, Kelly and Heidi met us and took us on a tour. They built their home and the Silver Creek Lounge, with full-service bike shop, a kitchen and space for parties, etc with hopes to create a community. This was one of those times when you realize you have stumbled onto something really good. 

We set up our tents in a field of dense clover, cooked dinner and hung out indoors in the cozy warmth until bedtime... at 9pm. After we packed up in the morning, the adventure began. Although this was my 4th time riding in the Pt Gamble Forest, I had never entered on the Dirt Devil trail before. And probably never will again! There was a mixture of riding, hike-a-bike, resting, whooping and, of course, navigating as we made our way north toward Pt Gamble for lunch at Butcher & Baker. 

After lunch, we decided the forest was fun, but we couldn't gamble on missing the ferry so we hit the road to head south on 104. Drivers were pretty good and gave us space (it was my lucky day, Friday the 13th and I was in my "lucky" colors of pink and purple) and we made it to the ferry in plenty of time.  Here's our route, more or less: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/44707410 

Who knows Garry Kehr?

We rode! We ate! We made new friends! Three COGS members (Kevin, Pam, and Liam) joined the Spokane Bicycle Club (SBC) for a delightful weekend of riding and eating and walking around Colville, WA. The weather was good. A bit cloudy and cool but not cold. It was good cycling and camping weather. Colville is a nice, quiet town. Pam and Liam opted for a hotel instead of the staying at the campground at the fairgrounds. But I have to say the campground was super nice and right in the middle of the town.  It was convenient to everything. With clean bathrooms, hot showers, and a kitchen for the group. I would seriously consider staying at the campground next time I do this ride. The SBC members were very friendly and welcoming.

On Friday afternoon, after driving for 6+ hours, we rode 21 miles with SBC. Pam and I were tired from the drive so we passed on the Friday dinner with the group and picked up a gluten free pizza from Westside Pizza. It was awesome! Kevin had dinner with the group. On Saturday morning, we rode 40 miles. Later in the afternoon, we had a potluck at the fairgrounds which included BBQ from the Longhorn restaurant in Spokane Valley. It was so delicious! On Sunday, we rode 17 miles, showered up, and since there were lots of leftovers from Saturday’s potluck we had that for lunch, and then headed back to Seattle. Even the drive was nice… except for I-90.

Saturday's ride at the start:

Sunday's ride (Liam, Pam, and Garry):

Sunday's ride (Liam, Kevin, Garry, and others):

Test post.  This will post is just to make sure I can add photos to a Ride Report.  Apparently I need to use an Admin view.  I will try to create the post first and then add photos.

I'm now in Admin view and editing this post.  Now when I look at the More dropdown list I see this:

To insert this image I first clipped the screen capture and then saved the image on my PC.  Then I used Insert image from the menu and selected my file from the PC and then clicked Insert.

Here is an image inserted using Insert Image from that menu:

This image was already on the COGS site but the image selector allows you to upload new images from your computer too.

Hope this helps.  This post will be deleted in 3-2-...

This was my first trip to Goldmyer Hotspring.  I had planned to camp at Goldmyer with overnight camping reservations for eight, but I am glad it turned into a day trip with only two of us (more about this later) .  We (Mike and Michael) carpooled to the Middle Fork Trailhead at the end of pavement on the Middle Fork Road, starting the ride around 9 AM up the Taylor River Road to what is called the Middle Fork Road on the Green Trails Map (174 SX); it is also NF 5600.  I believe it was a railroad bed in a previous incarnation, as there used to be a railroad up to Goldmyer to accommodate passengers.  The first ten miles and 1,850 feet could be accomplished by a reasonably capable cyclist on a loaded gravel bike, and It was easy enough on our full suspension mountain bikes without camping gear.  We turned off NF 5600 at Middle Fork Tie #4 Trail, where there was a small sign indicating Goldmyer trail to the right.

The little bridge across Burntboot Creek was in good shape, and we made our way up the trail to the hot spring; arriving at the caretaker's cabin at approximately 11:30.  The hosts were friendly and helpful.  After signing in, we left our bikes behind and climbed the trail past the "Grandfather Tree" about 1/4 mile up to the spring, where we stripped off our sweaty togs and immersed ourselves in the hot spring for about an hour.  The Spring is in a beautiful, secluded location next to a waterfall on Burntboot Creek.  We had the entire place to ourselves, and it was a delightful soak indeed.  We alternated between dips in the hot spring and dips in the cold spring immediately adjacent to it.  I toweled off feeling as if I'd just had a massage.

Then came the hard part.  As planned, we headed back via the Middle Fork Trail on the south side of the river.  The first challenge was to cross Burntboot Creek.  Michael crossed first, then tossed his sandals back across so I could cross without either going barefoot or getting my shoes wet.  That was the first of many creek crossings, some with intact bridges, some without, some dry, some not so dry. At one such, we managed to disturb a hornets nest and I got stung, twice - this after encountering many rock gardens and roots that had forced me to dismount and hike-a-bike several times.  We weren't even half way back yet. This was somewhat discouraging, but we pressed on and arrived back at the trailhead sore and tired by about 4:00.

The trail had some rideable and fun segments, but even with full suspension mountain bikes this was a difficult trail.  I was glad not to have tried it with a gravel bike and camping gear, not to mention several pissed off COGSters -- I would have been lynched!  I would do this trip again, but older and wiser.  For one thing, I would stick to the old FS road both ways.  It was a heck of an adventure, and in spite of the difficult trail back we enjoyed the beautiful scenery, the car-free miles, the hotspring, each other's company, and perfect riding weather.  Photos from the trip are on my FlickR site.

NOTE - if you decide to try this yourself, pay careful attention to the warnings and information on Goldmyer's website. Don't depend on GPS, bring a map - especially if taking the trail.  GPS reception may be very spotty, and there is no cellphone coverage.  Bring what you would bring on a hiking trip; the ten essentials and a water filter if camping at Goldmyer. Be prepared to deal with creek crossings, which may be impassable at certain times of the year - especially during the spring melt. The hot spring is worth the trip, however you get there.

Eight of us had a mostly pleasant ride around Vashon.  The qualification of "mostly" explained below.

• AVOID riding Vashon on the Sunday after Father’s Day.  That is the day of the annual N.W. Small Bore Motorcycle Rally. If you choose to ride on that day, you will be visited by apocalyptic plagues of old, smoke-belching, ear-splitting motor bikes.  While their operators were nice enough, the presence of hundreds of these bikes was not.
• When getting off the ferry, as bikes and pedestrians debark first, to avoid being passed by an endless stream of cars on the long uphill grind from the ferry, pull off to the right shortly after walking your bike off the ferry.  Wait for cars to clear and the ride up the hill will be more pleasant.  The debark and wait option works well for most rides that involve a ferry.    
• The Vashon Ride route has been updated to version #3 in COGS’ RWGPS library.  These new edits include:
• o   An option for avoiding the often congested four-way stop in downtown Vashon. 
• o   An option for keeping us off the Vashon Highway for as long as possible on the return ride to the ferry.  Thankyou Mel for this suggestion.
• o   Incorporation of WSDOTS recommended downhill route for returning to the ferry.  This new downhill option is safer.  Avoids the risk of being doored while zooming downhill alongside the long string of cars backed up waiting for the ferry.
• And most important, a new lunch option in downtown Vashon was visited and gets good marks.  Our regular burrito stop, Zamorana Mexican is closed on Sundays.   The new option, Camp Colvos Brewing, has nice large shaded picknick tables and a decent menu for a brewery.  Colvos Brewing and Zamurana are on the same side of the street on adjacent blocks.

While at Colvos, Arnie, opted for a liquid lunch. Thirty-two ounces of a nap inducing local brew.  Makes waiting for the ferry go faster.  Too fast for some.