Training Log Archive: FrankTheTank

Ride into work. All the co-workers were on bikes today!! Still had the big tires on so it was a little sluggish rolling today.

Green mtn. with Hayz. Pretty rusty on the bike skills. It doesn't help when it's all loose and rocky as is typical of Green this time of year.

Day 2: Up early to pack up camp and load the bike. I was on the trail at 5:30am with a nice early morning ride from Easton to S. Cle Elum. For the first few miles out of Easton they had put down new gravel and it was horrible riding but I eventually got through it. I arrived in S. Cle Elum around 7am.

It took me about 30min get everything loaded on the packraft and ready to get on the river. I put-in just downstream of the bridge on the S. side of the river at the launch. The river float was a nice break from riding and the section had some nice scenery. I was able to navigate the river without any trouble and only saw a few others on this whole stretch. I arrived at the dam take-out around 10:30am with really only one stop during the run. According to the Umtanum gauge the flow was right around 4000cfs for the day which is about 600cfs above normal.

Ride from the river takeout to Ellensburg. I grabbed some lunch and filled up my water and then headed out on the trail. I was debating taking the trail or the old vantage road while stopped at a road crossing when suddenly my rear tire went flat. I found some shade from the side of a hay barn and fixed my flat and decided that the highway would be safer especially being that I had to ride this section in the heat of the day. On the highway I was greeted with fresh chipseal and no tailwind so it was a slow slog but faster than the iron horse trail. I was a couple of miles from the wind farm summit when I got another rear flat. This time there was no shade for changing the tire. I ended up getting picked up by the fam here.

P to O adventure Round II: Left the house on the bike around 4:20am and was a bit later than I wanted. I had to hammer pretty hard to make the 5:35 Kingston ferry. I got there after they were loading but with some time to spare. It was a bigger effort than I wanted so early in the day and I think I paid the price for it later on.

2nd leg for the day from Edmonds ferry dock to Lake Easton State Park. Left the ferry around 6:10am and rode my old commute route to Woodinville. Grabbed some breakfast at McD's in Woodinville and headed back out on the trail around 7:45am. Hit the tolt pipeline trail and started the long hike-a-bike up the first hill. I think there were two more pushes on this section before I got to the end of the pipeline trail near Duvall. Once back down to the valley I had a short bit on road to get over to the Snoqualmie valley rail trail. Once on the trail I had some nice riding and had a couple of rain showers cool me off. I saw a couple of coyotes right before the Tokul tunnel. My goal was to make North Bend at 10am but I ended up arriving around 10:30. I took a good 20-30min break to eat and rest and wait out another rain shower under a tree before I got rolling again around 11am. I arrived at Rattlesnake lake around 11:45 and took a quick bathroom stop and then kept grinding up the Iron Horse trail to the pass. I think I saw more people on this stretch than any of the other times that I've ridden it. Caught up to a guy from the midwest riding the same direction and chatted for a mile or so before we split. I stopped and watched the kids rock climbing for a bit and then pressed on. I was hoping to make the tunnel around 2pm and I think I arrived right around that time. I grabbed my jacket and put on my light for the tunnel and started through the mountain. About halfway through my light went off and I was in the dark. Luckily some people were walking through the tunnel and stopped to shine some light for me to grab my cell and continue the rest of the tunnel length with my cell phone light. Once at the Hyak trailhead (~2:30pm) I took a much needed break and filled up my water and rested on a picnic bench. I hit the trail again around 3pm and made pretty good time along Lake Katchless and arrived at Lake Easton around 4:15pm. I rode around the lake to the campground and set up camp. After a little bit I rode over the interstate to grab a burger and back to camp for a early night's sleep.

Ride into work. Used the frame bag today with my water bladder loaded in the bottom. It feels really weird to ride without my backpack.

Ride home.

Ride into work. Changed my tires and put on my 40mm set over the weekend so I wanted to get a few rides on these before the big trip. When I got all packed up and ready to go this morning my front tire was flat so I had to do a quick tube change before taking off. It's good to get that stuff squared away now though.

Ride home via clear creek. I got passed by another bike, but I was able to get on his wheel and stay there.

Paddle in Liberty Bay after my haircut. Nice hot day on the water. I almost wanted to take a dip.

Put in at the park across from work and paddled around Virginia point and back to takeout at Keyport marina and then walked 1/4mi back to the car. There was a pretty strong flood tide and I was paddling against the current almost the whole way. I really should have reversed my loop. The current was pretty strong trying to get back around VA point and I was barely making progress there, but it was a great workout.

Ride into work. Perfect morning out. It was kind of funny because the guard this morning said something like "It's a little chilly for a bike ride" to me this morning and I replied back that it was a perfect riding morning. Maybe he just came from Hawaii.

Ride home from work. Added the Scandia loop.

Hike back to car from 3rd beach with all of our backpacking gear. It's uphill going back. Great trip with the kiddos.

Hike with the kiddos over the Taylor point overland trail. Pretty cool steep trail with ropes and ladders to get up/down the steep ocean bluffs. Nice day and the salmon berries were out.

Hike in to 3rd beach with the kiddos. Carrying backpack gear for two nights.

Hike back out to the car with Kid #2. We took the Cat creek trail on the way back. A bit overgrown but we made it.

Hike with Kid #2 up the lower Greywolf trail. 1st backpack trip for her. Several of the campsites were already taken when we arrived so I forded the river and found a nice spot on an island. It was a great night for camping.