About a month ago, when my Spring quarter at school was coming to an end, there were a lot of things set in my mind for what I wanted to do this summer: go to Victoria and Nanaimo, BC, with my mom; take a trip down to Portland to visit Powell's Books, the world's biggest independent bookstore; go on a couple hikes; spend plenty of sunny days in Seattle.  Another thing I really wanted to do this summer was go on a bike ride.  Me and my mom had been talking about this forever, but our bikes needed fixing, so we never got around to it.  Last week though, we finally managed to take our bikes in to the local bike shop and get them fixed, and Tuesday we got a head start in the day and drove our bikes to our favorite bike trail.


 I foolishly brought my camera, thinking I'd be taking all of these great pictures, not realizing that I wouldn't exactly be able to hop off my bike every two seconds every time I saw a nice picture moment.  Once you get on your bike, you pretty much don't want to get off, and when you do, it's that much harder to get back on, with your legs feeling like Jell-O.  I SO wish I could have had one of those helmet cams or something, to capture everything while we rode, because the trail was so, so beautiful.  It feels like you're in the country, with tall grass and beautiful flowers and occasionally passing by vast meadows and little farmhouses.  For a good part of the first half of the trip, we rode alongside a stopped cargo train that seemed to stretch on and on for miles.  It sort of seemed like something out of a movie, or a book or something, the way the train was surrounded by the tall gold grass and wildflowers.  All the while, too, there was Mt. Rainier in the background, almost too perfect-looking to be real, like some kind of scenic backdrop.  When we first set out on our bike ride, I didn't feel up to stopping to take pictures just yet.  I wanted to get on my bike and take everything in as I rode past.  It was coming back when I knew I couldn't not take some pictures of this day.

The bike trail goes for a long ways - from Kent to  Auburn to Algona.  Me and Mom decided to bike all the way through to Auburn without stopping for a break.  It was so hot on that day.  It helped that we had the breeze rushing past us as we rode, but I could still feel the heat wearing on my body and my muscles struggling a bit from having not worked themselves in a while.  It felt good, though.  Really good.  Riding through this countryside made me feel free and forget about everything.  And that's just what I needed.  As soon as we got into Auburn, we rode off of the lovely trail and into the city, where we had to ride alongside parks, in the bike lane.  I've often thought it would be neat to go everywhere by bike in the city, like people do in Seattle.  But right then, I was pretty nervous riding with other cars nearby.  I felt a bit self-conscious, wondering if the drivers in the cars were thinking, "Ugh, another damn biker..." and just generally feeling in the way.  I'm sure it's just because I'm not used to driving in traffic... but eeek!  It was fine, though.  It was nervous, but I felt like a real biker riding through town for a minute and it was really fun!  We rode to this coffee shop that we've been to a few times and really like.  It was neat, to be able to set our bikes outside by the outdoor tables.  They looked really cute there.  Something about bikes outside of coffee shops...   I wasn't feeling up to having a bakery item or frappuccino or anything like that, so I ordered a half ham and cheese sandwich with a side salad, with a cup of water.  It was really good!  It hit the spot perfectly.  My mom ordered a coffee cake muffin (which I'd had before, and it is really tasty) and some sort of coffee-mixed-with-chocolate frappuccino.  I tried a sip, and I couldn't believe how good it was!  I couldn't resist taking more sips throughout our lunch (Mom didn't mind).  A drink to keep in mind for the next time we go there!

After Auburn, we went back on the trail and rode all the way to Algona.  We thought there was a playground area we could rest at, but we never saw it, and knowing how far we'd already gone one way, we decided to ride back.  It really didn't feel like that long of a bike ride when we first started out, but it was only riding back that we realized just how far we'd gone.  And it was that much harder riding back.  It felt even hotter outside, my muscles felt more tired as I kept chugging along.  Me and Mom stopped for a break to take the pictures I talked about earlier, and that are posted at the end of this post.  Besides taking pictures of the beautiful scenery - the flowers, the train, the farmhouse in the distance - we also had a bit of fun and took pictures of each other as one would ride by on their bike.  I SO wish I could post these pictures, because they are so fun and cute.  I loved taking pictures of my mom riding by on her bike, a big smile on her face.  There's one that I especially like of her.  She was standing with her back to the farmhouse, smiling a big natural smile, her eyes crinkled in the usual way that they do.  It's a beautiful picture.  The perfect essence of who my mom is.  I showed my mom this picture not too long ago, and she agreed that it was a nice picture.  She liked how natural it was, too, even though she wasn't expecting to have her picture taken then.  But those are always the best pictures, the ones that are caught in that moment.  Anyway, what I was getting to is that, as much as I would LOVE to post these special pictures, for privacy reasons for both of us I'd like to keep these pictures to myself.  

Once we got back on our bikes, it wasn't that much further from where we started off on the trail, but I was getting so exhausted.  We reached a small hill leading up to a bridge at one point, and just on the other side was the gravel parking lot where we'd parked our truck.  Using up my last ounce of energy I forced my legs to pedal over the hill... only for me to collapse clumsily into the railing on the bridge, half heaving and half laughing.  As much as I would have loved to make a victorious finish, it didn't exactly turn out that way.  Since I was stopped though, I took the opportunity to take a few more pictures of the river and the bridge and Mt. Rainier yet again in the distance, then sheepishly got back on my bike and rode down the small hill to the parking lot.

So, that was my biking adventure!  It was so much fun, and it felt great to do (although yesterday and today I have been paying for it, with how sore I feel).  It definitely makes me want to go bike riding many more times this summer.


Pictures of my bike ride!