Between a stiff north wind and the late lunch crowd downtown bumping into the sight-seeing crowd, it was slow going at first. Once I got past the shipyard and the railyard (every form of conveyance was proudly on display) and answered the questions for the first two information controls, I climbed Fremont through a series of neighborhoods and then got on the Interurban Trail.
It was about this point, 21 miles into the route, when I rode the route in February that I screwed up. Having learned my lesson, however, this time I treated the Starbucks like an information control instead of a control-control, and did not even go in to get coffee. Instead, I just wrote down the answer to the question on the card.
Now, if you were a devious person, you could be reading this blog in preparation for riding this route. You might even have the brevet card in your hand and be looking at the seven (yes, SEVEN) information control questions and you might say, "Wow! There's the answer to the question on the brevet card!" And you may be right ... but what kind of loser cheats on a permanent? I guess if you wanted to get a P-12 or an R-12 or some kind of RUSA mileage award, you could do it that way. But it would still be obvious to the people who really DO the mileage that you're still a poseur. You'd basically be like that guy in college with a "hot" girlfriend back home that nobody's ever seen -- we all know it's bull, and you still aren't getting any (fun riding your bike, that is).
The next control was the control-control in Lake Forest that I had failed to stop at last time. Since it was almost 3 pm and 75 degrees, I didn't feel like coffee at the Starbucks so I went around the corner and found this.
On the left is a Great Harvest Bread Company, and on the right is Chocolate Man. I love the Great Harvest Bread Company in West Seattle, and it would have been nice to grab a baguette to nosh on for the next 20 miles. Unfortunately, the Great Harvest in Lake Forest doesn't have as much of a variety.
Chocolate Man, however, has a TON of chocolates. I got a white-chocolate haystack that was awesome, and a habanero milk chocolate caramel that was even freaking better.
I now have an "extra" control for any time I do a route that takes the Burke-Gilman trail through Lake Forest.
Although the rain last week had caused another slide near the trail, they already had it cleaned up. And the flowers and trees were obviously happy from that rain.
I passed through the University of Washington campus, crossed another drawbridge, and went through the arboretum on a new trail.
This part of the route was different from when I rode it in February. At first I thought it would be flatter, but it still has a tough little climb near the end.
On a Saturday you would probably have to follow that 10 mph speed limit.
The route still goes down to Seward Park. Since it's much nicer now, there were a ton of boats anchored off the park.
I didn't see anybody swimming, but there were folks lounging on the foredeck in swimming attire and working on their tan. The rich, they are different from you and I.
For one thing, they have boats and we just have bicycles.
When you're trying to do this route officially, it gets a little frustrating. I was working very hard while riding through the park to find the answer to the question for the FOURTH information control, and the instructions were a little nebulous. For a while, I thought the answer was on this sign.
But it wasn't. Instead, you go up a hill and the answer is on this sign.
And, no, the answer isn't on the "NO BICYCLES ..." sign, but on that post. And it's really faded, so you almost have to read it with your fingers like braille or something.
Once out of the park, you pass through a number of South Seattle neighborhoods and then cross I-5 near Boeing.
Then you cross another drawbridge into South Park and begin looking for another cryptic information control. This one is a sign at a park.
This is not the sign.
Although, because I slowed down to check this sign out, I did happen to notice a bunch of folks looking out at the waterway here, oohing and aahing. They were watching this seal.
Yeah, not a great picture. But it's hard to get a good picture of anything swimming -- even Michael Phelps -- and I was in a bit of a hurry because I was still trying to officially finish a brevet and I still needed to find the stupid sign.
Eventually, I found the sign.
At this point, the route gets on the Duwamish Trail. I put my head down into the wind -- plus it makes it easier to watch for all of the glass and road debris on this trail -- and eventually got back to West Seattle. The route had two more information controls (of course), the first of which was (of course) a cryptic reference to a sign near the end of the beach. It made for a wonderful photo opportunity, and gave me the chance to look at house numbers while dodging skateboarders and baby strollers.
Frankly, the better photo opportunities were past the lighthouse.
It's not as clear in the picture above, but you could see Mount Rainier. Most folks here say that any day you can see Rainier is a good day.
After riding along the nice beach road like this for a couple of miles, there was one last information control at the turn heading inland. That control was easy to find, and not very photogenic. The climb after it, of course, was painful -- as it always is coming back to West Seattle after a long ride.
Once back in town, I was starving. So I got a burger, fries, and a milkshake.
And now I can say that I've done RUSA permanent 2596. Since it starts about a mile from my house, I may do it again. At least next time I won't have to waste as much time and energy hunting for the information controls.
Unless somebody changes them.
Which would suck.
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