Another beautiful day, so I decided to do a variation on the 12APRIL trip. Riding my bicycle from home, I went through Sumner to Auburn, the first 14 miles. I then went directly to Flaming Geyser State Park, though not stopping at the park. Immediately past the park, I hit the first of many hills that were to define this trip. Those hills were mostly avoided, or encountered on the downhill, in the last trip, going the other way. I then did a slight out-of-the-way loop, going by Hanging Gardens State Park. The Green River runs through this park, which is how it appeared from the road.
After I arrived at the town of Black Diamond, I turned north to Kent, then riding to Kanaskat-Palmer State Park. Riding into the park, I watched some rafters go down the Green River.
The trip then headed straight south, going through Enumclaw and Buckley. There was the Mountain (Rainier) and cows.
Finally, I headed down to the Orting Valley, doing a slight duplicate of myself to achieve exactly 100 miles on the ride. Here is the trail, going by the Puyallup River.
At the end, I was doing 18-20 mph (29-32 kph) but was a little ragged. The hills were moderately steep, and the temperature rose as high as 32 Celsius, making it too hot for me. You could tell that by the end of the trip. I decided not to do the last hill to get me up to South Hill but called Betsy, and she came to get me. Meanwhile, some may wonder what a person eats on a long trip like this. You certainly don’t need a balanced diet and don’t need fats. I mostly GU it, which comes in small packages that you can rip open with your teeth and easily slurp down while riding. It is almost pure carbohydrate. Most bicycle jerseys have three little pockets in the back where you can keep your stash of GU. I also consume large quantities of gummi-bears and wear a hydration kit on my back.
I hope to do a few more centuries (100-mile rides) this year and am already signed up for two centuries and a double-century. So, I’ll lug my camera along, and expect more adventures in the chronicles of the Feuchtster.
