Double Velo Weekend News

This weekend past, during a record heat wave in Olympia, I rode two days consecutively for the first time in who knows when. All in the space of 24 hours but avoiding (mostly) the heat each day.

Saturday was longer and hotter. I started out mid morning riding north through the Bigelow Neighborhood to Gull Harbor Road, snaking my way up Lemon Road to the Chehalis Western trailhead, then across Woodard Bay to Libby Road and north around Fish Trap Loop. The route offers some challenging hills and nice views with not too much traffic and adds about 8 miles to the distance. Return is back the way I came, with the very steep climb out of Woodard Bay, and then home on the Chehalis Western Trail. I was in by 12:30. Twenty-six miles total.

Sunday, I rode southeast through neighborhoods to the CWT at Yelm Road and returned north. I was out by 8:30 on a wonderfully cool morning. Lots of shade in many places. The CWT is very much a green tunnel these days, dark and cool. I followed the Olympia Woodland Trail back to Eastside and, because the morning was still pleasant, I rode over to the capitol for a view of Budd Inlet and the Olympic Mountains.

And then I kicked ass home before the day got any hotter. Fifteen miles on the day.